Abstract

Due to experiences of forced migration, a large proportion of resettled refugee families arrive in resettlement countries with low levels of education, limited official language fluency, fractured family relationships, and less than optimal physical and mental health. These pre-migration determinants intersect with systemic barriers in ways that make it extremely difficult for refugees to secure employment/income security, access health and settlement services, and pursue their educational and other goals. This chapter discusses the role that newcomer refugee youth play in helping their families resettle in response to systemic post-migration barriers.

Coalition for Equal Access to Education. (2002). English as a second language education: Context, current responses and recommendations for new directions. Calgary: Coalition for Equal Access to Education.Google Scholar

Community Social Planning Council of Toronto. (2005). Renewing Toronto’s ESL programs: Charting a course towards more effective ESL program delivery. Toronto: Community Social Planning Council of TorontoGoogle Scholar

Hyman, I. (2007). Immigration and health: Reviewing evidence of the healthy immigrant effect in Canada. CERIS Working Paper No.55. Joint Centre of Excellence for Research in Immigration and Settlement, Toronto.Google Scholar

People for Education. (2011). Support for newcomer students. In, 2011 people for education annual report. Toronto: People for Education.Google Scholar

Portes, A., & Zhou, M. (1993). The new second generation: Segmented assimilation and its variant. The Annals of the American Academy of Political and Social Science, 530(1), 74–96.CrossRefGoogle Scholar

Portes, A., & Rumbaut, R. G. (2001). Legacies: The story of the immigrant second generation. Berkeley: University of California Press.Google Scholar

Rummens, J. A., & Seat, R. (2003). Assessing the impact of the Kosovo conflict on the mental health and well-being of newcomer Serbian children and youth in the greater Toronto area. CERIS Working Paper No. 25. Toronto: Joint Centre of Excellence for Research on Immigration and Settlement.Google Scholar